Pharmacy printer system and method

ABSTRACT

A computer network system and method for printing accompanying information and prescription labels in pharmacies, comprises: a central CS; a PMS; a data transmission network through which said PMS and said central CS can communicate; wherein said PMS includes an I/O terminal, a scanner, and a first printer; wherein said PMS includes a PMS SO and a Catalina SO; said PMS SO is configured to receive and store prescription information for a prescription, and to associate a prescription identification with said prescription; said Catalina SO is configure to select accompanying information for said prescription, to format and save said accompanying information in an accompanying information print file; and said PMS is configured to print a prescription label for said prescription and said accompanying information print file.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/709,016 filed on May 11, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/967,286, filed on Aug. 14, 2013, which is adivision of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/229,651, filed on Sep.9, 2011, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/748,239, filed May 14, 2007, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/822,880 filed Aug. 18, 2006, titled“PHARMACY PRINTER SYSTEM AND METHOD”. The entire contents ofapplications Ser. Nos. 14/709,016, 13/967,286, 13/229,651, 11/748,239and 60/822,880 are incorporated herein by reference.

The disclosures of the following co-owned patent applications relate toPMSs, and the disclosure of those applications are incorporated hereinby reference: Ser. No. 11/366,397, filed Mar. 3, 2006, entitled“PHARMACY NETWORK COMPUTER SYSTEM AND INTEGRATED PRINTER”, andPCT/US06/19432, filed May 18, 2006, entitled “SYSTEM OF PERFORMING ARETROSPECTIVE DRUG PROFILE REVIEW OF DE-IDENTIFIED PATIENTS”.

The disclosure of the following co-owned patent applications relate totwo sided printing to combined point of sale system register receiptsand advertisements on register receipt paper, and the disclosure ofthose applications are incorporated herein by reference:

U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/742,908 filed Dec. 7, 2005, andU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/488,126 filed Jul. 18, 2006, bothentitled “COMBINATION PRINTER AND ITS PAPER” and these disclosures areincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to printing in pharmacies.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,759,366 and 6,784,906 disclose technology enabling twosided thermal printing. Systems for printing a medicine label andrelated advisory information are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,304,849entitled “Method and system for printing a combination pharmaceuticallabel and directed newsletter”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,240,394 entitled “Methodand apparatus for automatically generating advisory information forpharmacy patients”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,067,524 entitled “Method andsystem for automatically generating advisory information for pharmacypatients along with normally transmitted data” all of which name BaxterByerly as an inventor, and the teachings of all of which areincorporated herein by reference.

Catalina currently prints its “PatientLink” information in pharmacies.PatientLink contains information in a newsletter form including about25% of the time sponsored information. Either Catalina or a sponsorgenerates the content.

Pharmacies print prescription labels. Pharmacies may also distributeadditional information to prescription recipients, such as MedGuideand/or monograph. Under current practice, all MedGuide information ispreprinted and shipped to each pharmacy, and the pharmacist or clerk isresponsible for selecting the correct MedGuide and conveying thatdocument with each prescription for the corresponding drug.

Many pharmacies generate their prescriptions by printing theprescription label, placing the label on a bottle, locating in theirstore the specified drug, placing the specified quantity of drug in thebottle, and then placing the bottle in a small bag. Then, they eitherstaple MedGuide or related information to the bag, place thatinformation inside the bag, or locate the pre-printed MedGuideinformation when the prescription recipient requests possession of theprescription.

Acronyms

NDC is an acronym for National Drug Code.

DCC is an acronym for Drug Classification Code.

CS is used herein as an acronym for “Computer System”.

CHR is an acronym for Catalina Health Resource.

POS is an acronym for Point of Sale.

FDA is an acronym for Food and Drug Administration. CID is an acronymfor Consumer IDentification.

PID is an acronym for Patient IDentification CID and PID are synonymousin this application.

XML is an acronym for Extensible Markup Language. PMS is an acronym forPharmacy Management System.

CS is an acronym for Computer System.

Definitions

A CID means any identifier that can be used to identify a consumer thatcan be scanned, read, or otherwise entered into a computer.

A “consumer” means a person or family or group of people that use thesame CID when purchasing or filling a medicinal prescription in a store,such as a pharmacy store.

A POS is an area where a consumer engages in transactions with a retailstore, such as a pharmacy store.

NDCs are codes associated with drugs. Preferably, NDCs are the unique11-digit 3-segment number that identifies the labeler/vendor, product,and trade package size of a medication listed under Section 510 of theU.S. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

DCCs are codes associated with medications based upon the medication'seffects on human beings such that several medications may have the sameDCC.

Individual transaction data includes but is not limited to dataconveying some or all of following information: time of transaction,date of transaction, CID, individual transaction ID, pharmacy ID,product purchased, price of product purchases (list price and/or actualprice paid), payment instrument type, payment instrument identifier.

A MedGuide is a guideline containing FDA-approved patient informationassociated with a DCC. For example, a MedGuide can include informationsuch as, important information a patient should know about the drug,what the drug is, who should not take the drug or medicine, informationa patient should tell a doctor before starting the drug, how a patientshould take the drug, how a patient should store the drug, what apatient should avoid while taking the drug, the side effects of thedrug, other information about the ailment of which the patient is takingthe drugs for, the ingredients of the drug, and general informationabout the safe and effective use of the drug. A MedGuide contains text,which may be stored as a text computer file.

A drug monograph is a written description of a drug or medicineassociated with an NDC. For example, a monograph can include informationsuch as, introduction, summary, pharmacology, pharmaco-kinetics, FDAapproved indications, off-label uses, dosage and administration, adverseeffects, overdose, safety data, contraindications, warnings,precautions, drug interactions, efficacy measures, cost comparison,clinical trials, conclusions, recommendations, references, supplied, andresearch. A drug monograph contains text, which may be stored in a textcomputer file. A drug monograph is not required by the FDA. Drugmonographs are third party content having drug related information.Government regulations (OBRA 1990) requires pharmacist to counsel allpatients receiving Federal services. Monographs and certain otherwritten information in practice can fulfillment the counselingrequirement.

Prescribing Information (PI) or Full Prescribing Information (FPI) aredocuments the drug manufacturer is required to produce before aprescription drug can be sold. Patient Package Information (PPI) is amanufacturer produced document requiring FDA (government) approval,designed for the consumer, and meant to be a substitute for the PI, ifapproved by the FDA.

PatientLink is the name Catalina Marketing uses for the newsletter ithas pharmacies print at the pharmacy store for patients receiving aprescription. PatientLink includes Catalina generated and sponsorgenerated content.

A PMS means a computerized system for managing pharmacy prescriptioninformation in order to assist a pharmacy in receiving and fulfillingprescriptions. It includes at least a computer including a Input/Output(I/O) terminal for a user to input pharmacy prescription information, aprinter for printing prescription labels for pharmacy products, aprocessor for processing digital information, a memory system forstoring pharmacy information, and operating system and applicationsprogramming.

Accompanying information includes but is not limited to informationprovided to the prescription recipient along with the prescriptionmedicine and the prescription label. Accompanying information includesMedGuide, drug monograph, PI, FPI, PPI, and PatientLink information.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Overview

The inventors realized that current methods for providing theaccompanying information originating from a variety of sources, toprescription recipients in pharmacies, is inefficient and unreliable.The inventors realized that this inefficiency is at least in partbecause the various types of information are printed separately in timeand space.

The inventors disclose herein systems and methods for the printing inthe pharmacy all information specific to a particular prescriptionrecipient, synchronized in time with the fulfillment of theprescription. The systems and methods determine what accompanyinginformation to associate with a prescription, integrates thataccompanying information into one integrated document, and prints thedocument in the pharmacy prior to when the prescription recipientreceives the prescription. In addition, the systems and methodsdetermine layout of the specific accompanying information associatedwith a prescription to physically distinct sections of the paper.

Preferably, the systems and methods print the content on both sides ofthe document, preferably using a dual sided thermal printer. Preferably,the printer is a two sided thermal printer, which uses paper having athermal barrier therein to prevent heat suitable for generating printcolor on one side from causing print color on the opposite side. Inaddition, each side of the paper may print to one color, but the colorson each side may be different; such as red/red or red/blue or red/blacketc wherein the “/” indicates opposite sides of the paper.

The inventors also conceived of automated mechanisms to operate incomplement with pharmacies to determine from a prescription whatinformation content to print, and format and lay out of print for thatinformation, for printing on two sides of paper, using a printerdesigned for two sided printing. The inventors conceived of structureand methods for storing all relevant information that might be printed,running rules using a prescription's information to select what specificinformation to print, running rules for formatting the selectedinformation for printing, subsequently printing the formattedinformation, and preferably folding the paper on which printedinformation resides in correlation with the formatting to paginate thepaper such that the print does not overlap the folds.

PMS Software Object

The system includes a PMS which includes PMS software (hereinafter thePMS Software Object, PMS SO) for assisting the pharmacy in receiving,and logging prescriptions, and fulfilling the prescriptions includingprinting of the prescription labels. The PMS may or may not include thehardware and software facilitating the financial transaction functionsof purchasing of drugs identified in the prescriptions, often referredto as POS functions. In order to comply with data privacy law, pharmacyprescription data is not generally accessible from a POS CSs, such as aPOS CS of a supermarket having a pharmacy.

The PMS SO is configured to receive prescription information enteredinto the PMS for request for a prescription, generate a prescriptionidentification for the request for the prescription, log thatinformation, and also transmit the prescription identification and atleast some of the prescription information, such as a drug name or drugidentification, to the Catalina Software Object (Catalina SO).

In addition, the PMS software may instruct a printer to print aprescription label (a paper having preferably the prescription drug, andperhaps dosage, and the intended recipient, on it, preferably having anadhesive backing covered by a peel away paper) for sticking on acontainer, such as a pill bottle, containing the prescription medicine.The prescription label may also have printed thereon a bar code readableby an optical scanner of the PMS. The bar code may encode theprescription identification. The prescription identification may be readby a scanner of the PMS. The PMS SO is configured to respond to readingthe bar code by retrieving the accompanying information print file forthat prescription and printing the accompanying information for thatprescription. The printer has paper sized to the dimensions specified inthe print file.

Catalina Software Object

The PMS includes a software object or software objects, herein after theCatalina Software Object (Catalina SO). The Catalina SO receivesprescription information from the PMS SO and determines whataccompanying information (as defined above) to print in association witheach prescription. The Catalina SO may determine the print format ofthat information. The Catalina SO and the PMS SO function to generateboth the prescription label and the accompanying information in printedformat prior to when the prescription is delivered to the prescriptionrecipient.

Upon receipt of prescription information, or within a short timethereafter (a short time being less time that it is likely to take forthe prescription to be prepared and provided to the patient), theCatalina SO executes its rules to determine what accompanyinginformation should be printed in response to the prescription. TheCatalina SO then runs rules to determine format, that is, layout, ofthose items for printing on paper. Preferably, using a 2 sided printer.

Therefore, the Catalina SO determines layout for two sided printing. TheCatalina SO generates a file containing accompanying information contentand accompanying information layout for printing, and preferably theprescription identification. The Catalina SO will transmit this file toa print driver, which will convert it to a file for printing by aprinter. Call this file the Catalina print file. Preferably, theCatalina print file is stored in association with the prescriptionidentification. For example, a representation of the prescriptionidentification may be embedded in the name of the print file.

The print file may contain PCL code which can be natively understood bythe printer. The underlying operating system may be any variety of Unixor Windows.

Alternatively, the Catalina SO may receive sufficient prescriptionrequest information from the PMS SO to specify the contents of theprescription label, and include in the print file it generates printdata for printing the prescription label. In this case, the prescriptionlabel and the accompanying information will print on the same printer,in which case preferably the printer uses a dual adhesive label anddocument paper form, such as referred to in U.S. Pat. No. 6,304,849.

Initial implementation of text and graphics layout will be by arrangingthe accompanying information in fixed areas of equal size and shape asone another, for example, two columns per page, each column being 4.4 by8 inches wide, and 7 inches high. Each element of the accompanyinginformation is arranged such that each items has continuity, if spanningmore than one fixed column area. The code may include determination ofpage numbers and printing of indicia indicating ontinuity, such as“Continued on page 2” for a MedGuide that spans areas on pages 1 and 2.

The printer driver may print the print file or files immediately uponits or their generation. However, in most PMSs the printer drive willstore the print files in association with the prescriptionidentification in memory (typically disc memory). These print filesinclude the prescription label print file and the accompanyinginformation print file, or a combined prescription label andaccompanying information print file.

Method of Operation

Someone, such as a patient, provides a prescription to a pharmacist, andrequests that the prescription be filled.

Upon receipt of the prescription request, the pharmacist or clerk entersthe prescription information into the PMS.

The PMS SO generates the prescription label

The PMS SO transmits the prescription information to the Catalina SO.For example, the PMS SO stores a file in the PMS's memory, such as diskor RAM, having a specified name or storage location. The file containsprescription information. The Catalina SO includes code to search fornew files having the specified name format or stored in the specifiedlocation, and to thereafter access those files to obtain the storedprescription information.

The Catalina SO retrieves the prescription information, determinesaccompanying information to associated with the prescription based uponthe prescription information, rules applicable to the prescriptioninformation, and stored content for accompanying information, andgenerates a print file containing data defining accompanyinginformation.

Preferably, the Catalina SO causes the print file containing datadefining accompanying information to print. Alternatively, the printingof the accompanying information is triggered by scanning the bar code ona prescription label for the prescription.

Next, a scanner of the PMS reads a bar code (or other machine readableindication) coding the prescription identification. The bar codepreferably resides on the printed prescription label. The clerk orpharmacist retrieves the previously printed accompanying information andprovides that to the patient at the same time as providing the bottle orpackage containing the drug to which the prescription label is affixed.

Format of Accompanying Information

The format of the printed information is important. The inventors haveidentified a need for a specific width range of paper of the printedinformation to two columns wide, each column being 4.4 inches wide. Theyrecognized that this is dictated by the depth of existing pharmacyprescription bins; bins into which prescriptions are placed pendingtransfer of the fulfilled prescription to the patient. Typically, theinformation to be conveyed occupies more than can be printed on onepiece of paper having two columns of print each column being 4.4 incheswide, and any reasonable height. Therefore, the inventors conceive ofmultiple pages of information being printed, and formatted via bendingor binding into a multi page document. Each 4.4 inch wide by 8 inch longcolumn of print is referred to as a panel.

Preferably, the printing is concurrent on both sides. This will providefor faster completion of printing, and time to completion is critical toavoid delaying the clerk, pharmacist, and customer/patient.

Preferably, the printing is either folded after printing, perforated, orprefolded, at distances along the direction of paper feed of 4-6 inches,such that resulting printout can be configured into booklet (foldedand/or bound pages) form having a width of 4-6 inches.

The inventors envisioned the need for the multi page printing havingpage width of 4-6 inches and page height of about 11 inches, andprefolded paper.

In the printing and manufacturing process for dual sided thermalprinting paper, paper is rolled around a drum preferably having a twentytwo inch circumference/diameter. The surface of the drum contacting thepaper may include protrusions or cavities resulting in lines of microperforations in the paper at defined spacings. The micro perforationsfacilitate folding of the paper along the line of perforations. Thedrums may also have structure resulting in “end of form” marks on thepaper. The “end of form” marks are indicia on the paper optically readby the printer to position paper in the printer at the start of a pagefor the next print job. The structure on the drum generating the microperforations and the end of form) have to be at equi-distant pointsaround the drum, so that sequential papers advancing around the drum areperforated at the same locations as one another, and so that paper for asubsequent print job is aligned prior to start of that print job toobtain perforation lines and end of form indicia at the intendedlocations. The inventors conceive of a preferred drum diameter of twentytwo inches. A preferred page width is about 4.5 inches, since those pagewidths are commensurate with what the paper manufacturing the drumdiameter can produce and will fit in conventional pharmacy prescriptionbins. Less preferably, the pages (and spacings between repeat patternsof structure of the surface of the drum forming micro perforations) maybe four to six inches in width. A preferred page height is 8 inches.

The inventors recognized that a problem with providing the desiredinformation is regulatory compliance. The regulatory requiredaccompanying information is provided for less than half of allprescriptions. The system and methods disclosed herein should increasecompliance by easing the burden of the pharmacist in associating thecorrect informational papers with each prescription. However, thepharmacist or clerk would still have to physically associate printedmaterial with the fulfilled prescription prior to providing theprescription to the prescription recipient.

In one alternative, the printer of the accompanying information isdesigned to print that information paper pre formed into bags. Theindicia printed on the bag preferably includes a unique identificationof the prescription, such as a representation of the prescriptionidentification (bar code, number, etc). That enables the pharmacist orthe patient to visually associate the prescription label with theprinted bag for that prescription. This embodiment ensures a higherlevel of compliance with regulatory requirements. Optionally, theprinter prints non bag paper, and that printed paper is post processed,either by hardware attached to the printer or a separate device, to forma bag.

In other embodiments, hardware attached to the printer bends and/orbinds the pages of the printed accompanying information and/or binds theprinted accompanying information into a pamphlet or a book format.

Catalina SO Content Switches

The Catalina SO stores, by drug identification and retail storeidentification, which MedGuides and other accompanying information toinclude in the print jobs for prescriptions specifying each drug,whether to print on refills of a prescription, the MedGuides and theother accompanying information. These options regarding what to printbased upon drug identification in a prescription and retail storeidentification are sometimes referred to as software switches. Theseoptions may be stored in a table including fields for drugidentification, retail store identification, whether to print MedGuide,whether to print other accompanying information, whether to printMedGuide on refill, whether to print other accompanying information uponrefill. For example, for a particular drug, drug X, the Catalina SO inthe PMS in one retail store (or more likely in the PMSs of all retailstores owned by the same company) might be programmed to print noaccompanying information, or no MedGuide.

In addition, that PMS might be configured to not print MedGuides forrefills on a prescription, or not print refills on a prescription fordrug X, but print MedGuides for refills for drug Y. The PMS would needto pass the prescription refill status information to the Catalina SO,so that the Catalina SO could make those determinations for eachprescription.

Interation with a Central CS

In addition, the Catalina SO may be programmed to transmit theprescription information received by the Catalina SO out of the PMS to acentral CS. The central CS may be configured to transmit data from thecentral CS back to the PMS for the Catalina SO. This data may includeinstructions resulting from the central CS processing of theprescription information. The transmissions to and from the central CSwould be prompt, on the order of less than seconds or minutes, so thatthe PMS could act on instructions prior to when the clerk or pharmacistin the corresponding pharmacy fulfills the corresponding prescription.For example the central CS could run code specifying what sponsoredmaterial to include in the printed accompanying information, andtransmit the sponsored material to the PMS for inclusion in the printfile for printing the accompanying information. In addition, the centralCS could then agglomerate prescription drug purchase information acrossa large number of pharmacy stores to rapidly determine, for example,changes in with time in drug purchasing for each drug, to provide aquick indication of sales to the drug manufacturers. Drug manufacturesmight use that information in conjunction with the timing of regional ornational advertising campaigns, to determine the effectiveness of thatadvertising, and to determine when to produce more or less of aspecified drug, thereby controlling drug inventory. Preferably, thecentral CS stores in memory a geographic region in association with theidentification of each PMS pharmacy. However, data received at thecentral CS originating in a PMS may include some indicia indicating thephysical location of the corresponding pharmacy. For example, a networkidentification otherwise associated with a geographic region.

Central CS Services

The central CS transmits all updates to accompanying information to eachPMS. In addition, the central CS may transmit update of formatting andcontent selection rules for accompanying information to each PMS.

The central CS preferably provides a related service. The central CSqueries, prompts, or otherwise obtains via download from each one of aplurality of drug manufacturer's networked CSs, MedGuide data, reformatsthe MedGuide data, and downloads the reformatted MedGuide data to either(1) a Catalina CS or printer database in each of a plurality ofpharmacies or (2) to the PMS for each of those pharmacies, or some ofeach. The central CS obtains, via manual or automated monitoring,identifications of drugs going off patent, and manually or automaticallyderives from the drug class information generic MedGuides for genericversions of the same drug. The derivation removes the trademarked nameof the drug, and clarifies the source of any study results specified inthe new MedGuide. For example, indicating that study results areindustry studies, and for example specifying the manufacture thatsponsored the studies, and otherwise comply with MedGuide formatting asto letter sizes heading sizes, and white space requirements. The centralCS can transmit revised and new MedGuides to each PMS, in the centralCS's specified format.

Prescription Data Received by the Catalina SO

Currently contemplated fields for the data the Catalina SO receives fromthe pharmacy computer system software (PMSS) in the data record include(from Catalina Health Resource XML Interface Overview, Version 3.0, rev.6): XML Header; Message version; State Code; Region; Retailer division;Retailer Store; NCPDP ID Number; Language Indicator; Unique Patient ID;Customer Name; Name Mask; Date of Birth; Gender; Opt Out (HIPAA);Transaction Sequence; Script Status; NDC; Medication Name; RX Number;Dispensed Qty.; Refill Sequence; Daily Supply qty; Daily Supply days;Original Fill Date; Expires Date; Refills Remaining; Monograph; PatientDirections; Pharmacist Directions; Dr Number; Simplex or Integrated;HIPAA Privacy msg; Payor; Payor Code; Control Number; Bin Number;Agency; Group; and Plan.

Prescription Data Received by the Catalina SO

Currently contemplated fields for the data the Catalina SO receives fromthe pharmacy computer system software (PMSS) in the data record include(from Catalina Health Resource XML Interface Overview, Version 3.0, rev.6): XML Header; Message version; State Code; Region; Retailer division;Retailer Store; NCPDP ID Number; Language Indicator; Unique Patient ID;Customer Name; Name Mask; Date of Birth; Gender; Opt Out (HIPAA);Transaction Sequence; Script Status; NDC; Medication Name; RX Number;Dispensed Qty.; Refill Sequence; Daily Supply qty; Daily Supply days;Original Fill Date; Expires Date; Refills Remaining; Monograph; PatientDirections; Pharmacist Directions; Dr Number; Simplex or Integrated;HIPAA Privacy msg; Payor; Payor Code; Control Number; Bin Number;Agency; Group; and Plan.

FORMAT: Field; Format (example); Description; Start tag; End Tag

XML Header; Alpha-text; XML header tag; <?XML version=“1.0”?>; N/AMessage identifier; Alpha-text; XML tag; <newsletter>; </newsletter>

Message version; Alpha-text Version (3.0); Message version number;<MessageVersion>; </MessageVersion>

State Code; Alpha-text (2); State code for store location; <StateCode>;</StateCode>Region;

Numeric text, variable length (4); Geographic region; <DMAD>; </DMAD>

Retailer division; Alpha-numeric text (10); Division id to aid intriggering division specific programs; <Division>; </Division>

Retailer Store; Alpha-numeric text (4); Store id to aid in triggeringstore specific programs; <Store>; </Store>

NCPDP ID Number; Alpha Numeric (7); National Council for PrescriptionProvider ID.; <NCPDP>; </NCPDP>

Language Indicator; Alpha-text, 1 char E or S (S); English or Spanishlanguage preference; <Language>; </Language>

Unique Patient ID; Alpha-numeric variable length text (123456A);Pharmacy system's unique patient identifier; <Patientld>; </PatientId>

Customer Name; Alpha-numeric variable length text (Jane Doe); Patientname is required to personalize the newsletter; <PatientName>;</PatientName>

Name Mask; Alpha-numeric variable length text (Y); A flag to tell oursoftware to mask patient name with “Valued Customer”; <MaskName>;</MaskName>

Date of Birth; Alpha-numeric text, 10 chars mm/dd/yyyy (Feb. 6, 1962);Used to calculate the patient's age; <DateOfBirth>; </DateOfBirth>

Gender; Alpha text, 1 char M or F or U (M); M—Male F—FemaleU—unknown;<Gender>; </Gender>

Opt Out (HIPAA); Alpha-numeric variable length text (Y); A flag to tellour software this patient does not want his/her information used totrigger a newsletter. And does not want to receive a newsletter;<OptOut>; </OptOut>

Transaction Sequence; Numeric text (15); Transaction number from RXsystem, used for QA purposes; <TransSeq>; </TransSeq>

Script Status; Alpha text, 1 char N or R (R); N—New ScriptR—Refill;<ScriptStatus>; </ScriptStatus>

NDC; Numeric text, 11 digit ########### (12345678901) or alpha-numeric,13 chars#####-####-## (12345-6789-01); 11 digit National Drug Code (withor without standard dashes); <NDC>; </NDC>

Medication Name; Alpha-numeric variable length text (Zocor); Thisinformation is printed on the newsletter. May contain actual drug nameand phonetic spelling; <MedicationName>; </MedicationName>

RX Number; Alpha-numeric variable length text (123456A); Prescriptionnumber is printed on the newsletter. Used for message validation;<rxNumber>; </rxNumber>

Dispensed Qty.; Numeric text (25); Qty of medication dispensed, i.e.pill count; <DispQty>; </DispQty>

Refill Sequence; Numeric text (2); Field contains 0 for new scripts. Onthe first refill this field would contain 1; <RefillNumber>;</RefillNumber>

Daily Supply qty; Numeric, variable length (3); Daily qty of consumptionof medication. i.e. 3 pills; <DailySupply>; </DailySupply>

Days Supply days; Numeric, variable length (30); Number of days thisscript is intended to last; <DaysSupply>; </DaysSupply>

Original Fill Date; Alpha-numeric text, 10 chars mm/dd/yyyy Feb. 6,2000); This is the date that the prescription originally got filled as anew script; <FillDate>; </FillDate>

Expires Date; Alpha-numeric text, 10 chars mm/dd/yyyy (Feb. 6, 2001);This is the date that the original prescription expires; <ExpireDate>;</ExpireDate>

Refills Remaining; Numeric text, variable length (3); Total refills lessthe ones that have already been filled; <Remaining>; </Remaining>

Monograph; Alpha-numeric variable length text (123456A); Monograph to beprinted on the newsletter; <Monograph>; </Monograph>

Patient Directions; Alpha-numeric variable length text (123456A);Patient directions to be printed on the newsletter; <Directions>;</Directions>

Pharmacist Directions; Alpha-numeric variable length text (123456A);Pharmacist directions to be printed on the newsletter; <RxDirections>;</RxDirections>

Dr Number; Alpha-numeric variable length text (123456A); Dr.'sidentification number; <Drld>; </Drld>

Simplex or Integrated; Boolean value; A flag to tell our softwarewhether the newsletter will be integrated with the label or not(separate from the label—simplex); <IntegrateNewsletter>;</IntegrateNewsletter>

HIPAA Privacy msg; Y/N (1); Y=do not print msg, N=print msg; <HIPAA>;</HIPAA>

Payor; Alpha-numeric variable length text (CASH); Third party payername/description. CASH if customer paid; <Payor>; </Payor>

Payor Code; Alpha-numeric variable length text (CASH); Third party payercode CASH if customer paid; <PayorCode>; </PayorCode>

Control Number; Alpha Numeric (9); Payer's processor control number;<ControlNumber>; </ControlNumber>

Bin Number; Numeric (6); Bank Identification Number. Payer codeinformation; <BinNumber>; </BinNumber>

Agency; Alpha-numeric variable length text (123456A); The legalrelationship between an agent and a principal; <Agency>; </Agency>

Group; Alpha-numeric variable length text (123456A); Insurance thatprovides coverage for several people under one contract, called a mastercontract; <Group>; </Group>

Plan; Alpha-numeric variable length text (123456A); A plan documentidentifies the benefits the participants are to receive and therequirements they must meet to become entitled to those benefits;<Plan>; </Plan>.

Additional concepts include the following.

Providing in print a change of color, contrast, other highlighting, or aparticular logo, when printed accompanying information includes recentlyupdated information, such as information on newly identified sideeffects. This would alert patients to changes in information about themedicine they were taking.

Adding disposable/programmable audio device—chip as an alternative or inaddition to medGuide/PI printed information; possibly integrated into apill bottle. Add telephone service providing recorded message of medguide/monograph info. One telephone number per prescription type, andone such telephone number on each bottle label. Provide correspondingdial up service, and integrate number/prescription type print into thesoftware code printing the prescription and/or printing the accompanyinginformation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic of computer network 1;

FIG. 2 is a schematic of PMS 30 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a container schematic of database 260 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a container schematic of Catalina SO data 320 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a container schematic of rules data 420 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a design view of drug data table 410A for drug data fields ofdrug data 410 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a design view of content selection rules table 510A forcontent selection rules data 510;

FIG. 8 is a design view of formatting rules table 520A for formattingrules data 520;

FIG. 9 shows simplified plan view of accompanying data laid out onplates of printed page size;

FIG. 10 shows front and back plan views of a first alternative formatfor printing of accompanying information shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 shows front and back plan views of a second alternative formatfor printing of accompanying information shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 shows front and back plan views of a third alternative formatfor printing of accompanying information shown in FIG. 9 that includesprinting fill data; and

FIG. 13 is a schematic process flow diagram for the Catalina SO.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows a computer network including a central CS 10, and a seriesof PMSs including PMS1 30, PMS2 40, etc, connected via a wide areanetwork 20, such as the Internet.

Lines shown connecting elements represent conventional network packetswitched or always connected data communication lines. Each computerincludes a central processing unit for processing instructions, memory,and input/output devices for interacting with human beings. Each PMScontrols the prescription fulfillment process at one or more pharmacies.

FIG. 2 show PMS 30 including CS 210, memory or database 260, read andwrite access to which is controlled by CS 210, terminal 220, for inputand output of data, scanner 230, for input of data in the form ofoptically recognizable bar codes, prescription label printer 240 forprinting inter alia prescription labels and bar codes, and accompanyinginformation printer 250 for printing inter alia accompanyinginformation. Alternatively, any or each of the elements 220-250 maycomprise a CS networked via a local area network to CS 210. In onealternative, accompanying information printer 250 stores all text andgraphical accompanying information, and it receives from CS210 referenceto elements of that information indicating to printer 250 whataccompanying information to print in association with a specifiedprescription. More details on such an alternative exists in attorneydocket number PIP174BANFP-US, U.S. application 60/759,552, filed Jan.18, 2006, and PIP174BANFU-US, U.S. application Ser. No. 11/366,397,filed Mar. 3, 2006, both entitled “PHARMACY NETWORK COMPUTER SYSTEM ANDINTEGRATED PRINTER” and both of which are hereby incorporated byreference.

FIG. 3 shows contents of database 260 including PMS SO data 310,Catalina SO data 320, prescription label print files 330, eachassociated with a prescription ID, and accompanying information printfiles 340, each associated with a prescription ID. Files 330, 340, arethe files ready for printing the prescription labels and accompanyinginformation associated with specified prescription identifications.

FIG. 4 shows contents of the Catalina SO data including drug data 410and rules data 420. Drug data 410 includes all accompanying informationfor each identified drug product. Rules data 420 includes rulesdetermining what accompanying information content to print for aprescription, and how to format that content for printing.

FIG. 5 shows rules data 420 including content selection rules 510 andprint formatting rules 520.

FIG. 6 shows a design view of table 410A storing fields for drug data410. FIG. 6 shows fields with names representing the data stored in thefield. The field names are drug brand name, NDC, DCC, MedGuide,monograph, prescribing information, Catalina generated content, Sponsorgenerated content, MedGuide length, monograph length, prescribinginformation length, Catalina generated content length, sponsor generatedcontent length, and fill blank space content. The field names are onlyexemplary in that for example, there may be additional fields foradditional sponsored content, and additional field for the variousdifferent types of prescribing information. The “length” fields containa measure of print length for text content, such as character count orline count. The length fields may be used by formatting rules asspecified below.

Alternatively, the field for potentially repetitive content, repetitiveover more than one drug product such as MedGuide, monograph, prescribinginformation, and generated content, may be stored in a separate tableand identified in table 410A only by a reference therein to the othertable, for example using a foreign key.

Moreover, the drug data 410 may in fact be stored in a database in theprinter that prints the accompanying information. In this embodiment,the drug data stored in database 260 (database controlled by CS 210),may only store a reference to the data fields for the MedGuide,monograph, prescribing information, etc, such a reference for examplebeing the DCC and/or NDC. In this embodiment, the processor in theprinter may perform the content and format determinations noted above asperformed by the Catalina SO.

FIG. 7 shows a design view of table 510A representing content selectingrules 510. This is only one of alternative ways to represent contentselection rules. In this representation, table 510A includes field nameswherein the field names describe the content, and those field names are:NDC, DDC, Switch—MedGuide; Switch—PI; Switch—Catalina generated content;Switch—Sponsor generated content; and Pharmacy or PMS ID. The “Switch”fields are boolean fields indicating whether to print the correspondingaccompanying information: MedGuide, PI, and generated contents.

FIG. 8 shows a design view of table 520A having fields for storingformatting rules 520. In this representation, table 520A includes fieldnames wherein the field names describe the content, and those fieldnames are: Pharmacy (or PMS) ID; NDC; DDC; Content location sequence;Switch—Wrap Print; and Switch—Fill Blank Space. The content locationsequence contains datum indicating sequence of print of the variousidentified components of accompanying information, such as MedGuide,then Monograph, then Catalina Generated content. As a result, theseelements of accompanying content would print with MedGuide starting onpage 1, and the other elements following on sequential from where theMedGuide print ended.

Print text and graphics are laid out in “plates” which correspond to theheight and width of a column of text to appear on a printed page. Forexample, there may be 1, 2, or 3 printed columns.

The Switch—Wrap Print is a value determining where to begin printing asubsequent element of accompanying data, such as monograph, after end ofprint of a prior element, such as MedGuide. For example, printing of themonograph may begin on the next line after the last line of the MedGuidein the same column in which the MedGuide print ends, in the sequentiallynext column after the end of the MedGuide, or on the sequentially nextpage after then end of the MedGuide.

Switch—Fill Blank Space contains one or more values indicating how theCatalina SO should fill any blank space. Blank space is space resultingfrom unfilled rows or pages due to the values for Switch—Wrap Print andwhether there exists blank space on the last page of the printeddocument.

FIG. 9 shows plates 901-904 (height and width each corresponding to acolumn for text printing) and printed material thereon indicated byhashing. Plates 901 and 902 have print 910 and 920 indicating MedGuidetext/graphics. Plate 903 has print 930 indicating PI text/graphics.Plate 904 has print 940 indicating sponsor generated content. Plates901-904 are each shown having a single column of text for simplicity ofillustration.

FIG. 10 shows a front side 1010 and a back side 1020 of a paper havingthe information shown in FIG. 9 printed thereon. FIG. 10 shows each typeof information, MedGuide, PI, and Monograph, starting on a distinctpage/column of paper, corresponding to a value of Switch Wrap Print,indicating print for each element of accompanying information startingon a new page or column.

FIG. 11 shows a front side 1110 and a back side 1120 of a paper havingthe information shown in FIG. 9 printed thereon. FIG. 11 shows printingin which Switch Wrap Print indicates printing of accompanyinginformation continues in the same column after one element ofaccompanying information ends. As a result, an unprinted region existsat the bottom of page 3, and there is no print on page 4. Switch—Fillblank space determines whether the Catalina SO retrieves additionalinformation to fill the blank space. The additional information forfilling blank space may be PMS specific information, such as PMSadvertising, PMS incentive offers, manufacturer sponsored incentiveoffers, or other informational materials. This information may be storedin the PMS in a location and in a format accessible to the Catalina SO.

FIG. 12 shows the same information as FIG. 11, except that it includeson page 4 fill content 1210.

FIG. 13 shows the process flow 1300 for a preferred embodiment of theCatalina SO. In step 1305, the Catalina SO receives a prescriptionmessage from the PMS SO and optional retailer content to print. As tothe retailer content, this is information that the retailer specifiesfor the Catalina SO to configure and print. For example, a particularretailer may desire to have their versions of drug monographs printed.In that case, their PMS SO would send data defining their drug monographto the Catalina SO.

In step 1310, the Catalina SO selects additional content based uponpatient or prescription information. Note that in step 1305 theprescription message may include Unique Patient ID. The patient ID maybe used to trigger print of patient ID specific information. Thisinformation may have previously been stored locally in the PMS. Thisinformation may have been associated with the patient ID at a central CSand thereafter transmitted to the PMS, for the Catalina SO.

In step 1315, the Catalina SO removes any competing elements. Forexample, when the retailer sends a drug monograph and the Catalina SOdetermines another drug monograph for the same drug.

In step 1320, the Catalina SO selects the drug monograph for theprescribed drug.

In step 1325, the Catalina SO determines whether to print a MedGuide. Ifyes, it proceeds to step 1330. If no, it proceeds to step 1335.

In step 1330, the Catalina SO selects a MedGuide for printing.

In step 1335, the Catalina SO determines if Ad1 is required, PI, PPI,BS, and repeats this process n times. Ad1 means advertisment number 1.Pi means perscribing information, which is a document produced by drugmanurfacturers and intended for us by doctors as aid in prescribing andaccompanies medicine shipped to pharmacies. PPI means patient productinformation designed for patients. BS means brief summary and is a breifsummary of the PI. In operation, in step 1335, advertisments forprescription drugs are associated with at least one of a correspondingPI, PPI, BS for that drug. The process of determining print informationrepeats for each prescription drug advertisement to be printed, hence, ntimes for n such advertisements.

In step 1340, the Catalina SO reviews and implements retailer specificrules regarding layout, such as a rule requiring the drug monograph beon the front page of the print.

In step 1345, the Catalina SO processes a final table of content toprint.

In step 1350, the Catalina SO determines optimal layout of printelements, determines the TOC, and layout of any teaser content.

In step 1355, the Catalina SO generates the final print job in eitherpdf or PCL format.

In step 1360, the Catalina SO determines whether or not to printimmediately. If yes, proceed to step 1365. If no, proceed to step 1370.

In step 1365, the Catalina SO sends the print job to the printer, whichprints the print job for the customer.

In step 1370, the Catalina SO writes to disk or memory the print job.

In an additional step related to step 1370, the prescription ID isscanned, which triggers printing of the print job. In practice, this isusually when the pharmacist is assembling the prescription drugs in apackage, so that the pharmacist can then affix the printed informationto the corresponding prescription drug package. Alternatively, the printjob may be triggered by scanning the prescription ID at the time thecustomer picks up the drub package, and at that time also provided tothe customer along with the prescription drug package.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of processing accompanying informationrelated to a prescription, the method being implemented on a computingdevice having a processor programmed by one or more computer programinstructions, the method comprising: receiving sponsored content from aserver; determining a layout used to print accompanying information andsponsored content for a prescription request, the layout comprises anindication of a number of columns to be printed per page and theaccompanying information is based on prescription information andcomprises two or more elements; removing competing elements from theprint layout, the competing elements are content conflicting with thesponsored content in the prescription request; determining print indiciathat indicates continuity data for at least one of the two or moreelements that spans more than one column; generating a print file usedto print the accompanying information based on the layout, the printfile including the determined print indicia; and printing theaccompanying information using the print file.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising: transmitting the prescription information to theserver; and receiving accompanying information from the server.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the determining the layout comprises:determining a layout for printing the accompanying information and thesponsored content.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining thelayout comprises: applying a rule for at least one of selecting contentor formatting content.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:receiving from a server an update for at least one of a contentselection rule or a content formatting rule.
 6. The method of claim 5,wherein the content selection rule or the content formatting rule isprovided by a retailer operating a pharmacy management system.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the generating a print file furthercomprises: generating a print file based on the layout.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: determining the layout comprises anunprinted region; and inserting additional information in the layout tofill the unprinted region.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:storing the print file in association with the prescription request, theprescription request comprises an associated bar code.
 10. The method ofclaim 9, further comprising: printing the print file using a printerwhen the printer is presented with the associated bar code.
 11. A methodof processing accompanying information related to a prescription, themethod being implemented on a computing device having a processorprogrammed by one or more computer program instructions, the methodcomprising: determining, by the processor, accompanying information andsponsored content to be printed for a prescription request, theaccompanying information is based on prescription information andincludes a plurality of elements; determining, by the processor, alayout used to print the accompanying information, wherein the layoutcomprises a plurality of columns to be printed per page, and wherein thedetermining the layout comprises formatting a first element to beprinted on a first column and a second element to be printed; removingcompeting elements from the print layout, the competing elements arecontent conflicting with the sponsored content in the prescriptionrequest; generating, by the processor, a print file used to print theaccompanying information based on the layout; and printing the printfile using a printer.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein thedetermining the layout further comprises: formatting at least a firstportion of the second element to be printed in the first column.
 13. Themethod of claim 12, further comprising: formatting at least a secondportion of the second element to be printed in a second column.
 14. Themethod of claim 13, further comprising: determining the second columncomprises an unprinted region; and inserting additional information intothe unprinted region.
 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:determining a second layout rule provided by a retailer; andprioritizing the second layout rule from the retailer as a higherpriority than the first layout rule to determine the layout.
 16. Adevice for processing accompanying information related to aprescription, the device comprising: a processor programmed with one ormore computer program instructions to: determine accompanyinginformation and sponsored content to be printed for a prescriptionrequest having an associated bar code, the accompanying information isbased on prescription information in the prescription request andincludes a plurality of elements; determine a layout used to print theaccompanying information, wherein the layout comprises a number ofcolumns to be printed per page; removing competing elements from theprint layout, the competing elements are content conflicting with thesponsored content in the prescription request; format a first element ofthe plurality of elements and a first portion of a second element of theplurality of elements to be printed in a first column; format at least asecond portion of the second element to be printed in a second columndifferent from the first column; format additional information to fillthe second column based on a determination that the second columncomprises an unprinted region; generate a print file used to print theaccompanying information and sponsored content based on the layout; andcause a printer to print the print file using paper having a size thatis defined by a layout rule.
 17. The device of claim 16, the processorfurther programmed to: store the print file in association with theprescription request.
 18. The device of claim 16, wherein the printerprints the print file upon being presented with the associated bar code.